Family Reunion Forum

You know how on the last day of school you had those little booklets that your friends signed? Well, you might want to do something like that. OR

1. Walk around the room or dining table and try to get everyone to sign your little booklet with their name and contact info.
2. Have a registry book like at a funeral or wake where everyone signs in, again, with their contact info. This can later be transcribed and distributed to each family member who wants a copy.
3. Walk around, introduce yourself, and take individual or group photos, immediately labeling them as, for example, "Cousin Mary and I" or "Great-Uncle Jim".

Meeting everyone and getting a group photo and later trying to put a name to the faces is difficult after the fact, I found out.

When I flew to IL in 1991 to meet my Dad for the first time in my life and my half-sister and her children, I have always regretted not doing something like the above in order to have a record for myself. The fellow she claimed that the fellow she had hired to videotape everything accidentally recorded a football game over it so there was no tape of our meeting to be shared. The disposable camera I took a few shots with was lost. Lesson I learned: Make your OWN record...with whomever cooperates.